Maddie's Nail Rusting Project, woo!

Broad Question

Which nail rusts most?

Specific Question

Which nail accumulates the most rust in different types of liquids?

Variables

Independent Variable:

Different solution or liquids

Dependent Variable:

Rust accumulated on nail

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:

Nail

Hypothesis

I hypothesize that the nail soaked in bleach will accumulate more rust as apposed to the nail in vinegar or water.

Graph of Hypothesis

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Experimental Design

After I gather my materials, I can start my experiment. I will be conducting my nail rusting experiment at home. There is only one subject involved in my experiment, the nails rusting. I will be the only one involved in the experiment. It should only take up to three trials at most. The information will be reliable. While performing this experiment, I will be recording the results on a spread sheet.
There will be two trials total. In each trial, I will place a nail into the liquid. There, it will rest a total of two weeks. When each nail has rusted in those 14 days, I will mass out the accumulated rust, and write down the data on a data table.

Materials List

To perform my experiment, I will need these materials (per trial):

• 3 Steel Nails
• 3 Plastic Cups
• Water
• Bleach
• Vinegar
• Triple Beam Balance Scale

Detailed Procedure

1. Gather all materials.
2. Mass out weight of one nail.
3. Pour same amount of liquid into each cup so each nail will be completely submerged.
4. Place one nail into each cup.
5. Let nails rust for two weeks.
6. Take nails out of cups.
7. Measure nails on triple beam balance.
8. Collect all data, and record onto spread sheet.
9. Repeat all steps for a total of two trials.
10. Once all data is reliable, I can put all data onto wiki page.

11. Start conducting presentation, and presentation board.

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Results

Data Table

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Background Research

1. What is rust?

2. How does rust work?
Nails are made from steel and contain iron. Oxidation and corrosion (wearing down by chemical change, in this case rust) form on the steel/iron when in contact with the air or liquid. The rate of corrosion is increased by salts, acids, moisture, or other chemicals. Over time, the chemicals oxidize or in this case corrode, which causes chemicals to build up on the steel, creating rust.

References

1.website- http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_do_nails_rust. Retrieved January 20, 2012, from http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_do_nails_rust
2.book - Karpelenia, Jenny. Chemical Reactions. Logan, IA: Perfection Learning, 2006. Print.

Graphs

Photos

-----------WATER-------------------------------VINEGAR---------------------------BLEACH---------------

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Data Analysis

Conclusion/Results

While doing this experiment, I placed nails into different solutions including vinegar, water, and bleach. I did this because I wanted to see how much rust would accumulate on a steel nail. My hypothesis was correct. The nails soaked in bleach accumulated the most rust of all. The nails were soaked in these different solutions for 2 weeks then i massed them out to measure how many more grams of rust was added onto the nail. My hypothesis was: I hypothesize that the nail soaked in bleach will accumulate more rust as apposed to the nail in vinegar or water. My results turned out being bleach rusting the most. Vinegar and water were at a tie. While conducting this experiment, I could have come into some problems such as not having nails rust or measuring the rust incorrectly. I know that I did not encounter these problems because I had someone with me who watched me measure the nails and perform the experiment.
Which nail accumulates the most rust in different types of liquids?
BLEACH.

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Discussion

The original purpose of this experiment was to see which liquid could make a nail gain the most rust in 14 days. The results were bleach rusted the most, and vinegar+water were tied.